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@champignon you are correct
US
BMW speedometers read +3 MPH over actual.
This has been the case for several decades , even my E30 M3 did this.
I'm fairly confident that the reason for doing so was to prevent any concerns regarding lawsuits and speed limits. Essentially, with a 3 mph higher reading than actual, the driver can never blame receiving a speeding ticket on " speedometer error ".
BMW isn't the only manufacturer that does this, however, their adjustment may be one of the largest.
On cars that will show exact speed, this can be confirmed by displaying the actual speed from the on board computer ( which picks up its signal from the differential in most cases ) vs the speed on the speedometer gauge. The gauge is programmed to show 3 mph higher.
On many late model US vehicles , the actual speed display is not able to be shown in the OBC. This can be coded in. On some models the large digital display for speed can also be coded to work.
The speedometer needles however CANNOT be changed in BMW analogue dashes. In other words, this means that while one may be able to code the dash to display the actual vehicle speed, the needles on the gauge will always read + 3 ( unless one were to attempt to physically alter them- something I would NOT recommend).
Whether this can be changed in future digital
dashes is unknown.
On my 1M I had my car coded so that the OBC will display the actual speed. It is nice to know the actual speed I am traveling, at times. I will say that in the 1M you have to learn to look at the OBC for speed as opposed to the speedometer. In some E9x M3 I've seen that there is a large digital display with MPH. I haven't coded my X1 but if either option is available ( adding actual speed to the OBC , or adding digital speed display to the dash) I would like it.
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